Instapaper is a great program that I have been using for years in its free version that allows me to capture web articles that I can file in folders to make it easy for later consumption. You can access this information either through a web browser on your PC, using their iOS or Android apps on your mobile devices.
Instapaper has launched a new premium service that costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year, a 15% savings by purchasing on an annual basis. The feature list for both services are as follows:
The ability to have fulltext search and to add notes to the articles that you have saved help to make an interesting argument for moving to the premium service but probably the most compelling is that you are supporting the company for offering the service as well as for any new upgrades to the product. At under three dollars per month doing so will not break your bank.
Before deciding what you want to do about upgrading your Windows 7 or 8.1 operating systems to Windows 10, think about what programs that you use that may or may not be available to you in the new operating system.
Windows Media Center is one of those programs that I am sorry to see go by the wayside. Microsoft has been planning this for a while but it makes me unhappy to see it go. From Microsoft's Windows 10 spec page here are some of the other features that are being cut:
Feature deprecation section
If you have Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center and you install Windows 10, Windows Media Center will be removed.
Watching DVDs requires separate playback software
Windows 7 desktop gadgets will be removed as part of installing Windows 10.
Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available. Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise users will have the ability to defer updates.
Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Hearts Games that come pre-installed on Windows 7 will be removed as part of installing the Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft has released our version of Solitaire and Minesweeper called the “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” and “Microsoft Minesweeper.”
If you have a USB floppy drive, you will need to download the latest driver from Windows Update or from the manufacturer’s website.
If you have Windows Live Essentials installed on your system, the OneDrive application is removed and replaced with the inbox version of OneDrive.
Most of these items you can live without but if you still have some things on on floppies that you haven't moved to other media, you may want to consider doing that before upgrading. I think most people have already done that but here is the impetus to do so. Entire experience at the store more people will be worried about Solitaire than anything else.
I have been listening to one of my favorite podcasts for a while now and one of the hosts talks from time to time about how much she likes Amazon's Echo Speaker system and I finally saw an article in Engadget discussing the fact that Audible files now can be directly accessed through the speaker.
I am such a big Audible fan that having another source through which I can listen to the books I am reading, yes I understand that I'm listening to them but to me it's the way that I consume most of the books I read for enjoyment.
However, the Echo Speaker is available through invitation only through Amazon so I have to put my request for an invitation to purchase one through the Amazon service. As a Prime user you can an automatic discount of $50 of the price of the unit is $149.
Connectivity is one of the things that you always are looking for in today's new speaker devices and the Echo Speaker does a lot of the things that you would expect. First to connects through Wi-Fi back to the Internet so that as you are asking questions it will use that Internet connection to gather information to respond to you with an answer. It is also Bluetooth enabled allowing you to connect your tablet or phones back to the speaker so that you can play from applications that you are using on those devices. Also available for both Android and iOS devices is a companion application that allows you to connect to the speaker as well.
It also connects to your WeMo compatible devices using voice commands. A list of these controllers are available on the Amazon Echo's website. The Echo's brain is not built into the unit itself but is actually operating from Amazons Web Services. Over time, the Echo will continue to learn your speech patterns, vocabulary and personal preferences. All updates are done in the cloud so you don't have to worry about doing them locally on the device.
Echo is always ready, connected, and fast. Just say the wake word, "Alexa," for:
New - Connected Home: Control compatible WeMo and Philips Hue devices with your voice.
New - Pandora: Listen to and discover music from Pandora's library of over 1 million tracks.
New - Traffic: Hear commuting time and the fastest route to your destination.
New - Sports: Ask for sports scores and schedules from the NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB, and more.
Music: Listen to your Amazon Music Library, Prime Music, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio.
News, weather, and information: Hear up-to-the-minute weather and news from a variety of sources, including local radio stations, NPR, and ESPN from TuneIn.
Questions and answers: Get information from Wikipedia, definitions, answers to common questions, and more.
Alarms, timers, and lists: Stay on time and organized with voice-controlled alarms, timers, shopping, and to-do lists.
More coming soon: Echo automatically updates through the cloud with new services and features.
With all of these features, how can you help not wanting to own one for yourself?
Dropbox currently has over 300 million users and its For Business version has gone a long way to improve security of your information so that is becoming much safer for businesses to use this product. We have recently added Dropbox for Business as one of the many cloud base services that we can offer our clients. We are, after all, a Solutions Provider and we are strongly focused on Security for our clients networks, computer systemes, devices and information.
I started using dropbox almost from day one that I got my first iPad and as I continued to add new mobile devices to my personal inventory it became clear how important it is to have a service that is available on any device that I possibly know. I don't want to have an issue of having to find just the right device so I can access the data that I'm looking for.
What is Dropbox for Business?
Individual Dropbox for each user in your team
5 TB for 5 users, with more as your team grows
Unlimited file recovery and versioning
Centralized billing for all team members
Admin controls and phone support
With all of this control and security doesn't it make sense to include Dropbox for Business as part of your business applications?
The cost is just hundred $150 per year per user with a minimum of five users to start. Let us know if you have any questions about this product.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 6:17AM 
Instapaper is a great program that I have been using for years in its free version that allows me to capture web articles that I can file in folders to make it easy for later consumption. You can access this information either through a web browser on your PC, using their iOS or Android apps on your mobile devices.
